Chinese shares rise on reform hopes

DanielInman

The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -1.13%
added 0.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HSI, +0.56%
rose 0.5%, after the head of China’s central bank assured the market of more financial reforms, including free deposit rates and a more flexible currency. People’s Bank of China head Zhou Xiaochuan also said that China will allow more foreign institutions to invest in the domestic stock and bond markets

“These remarks show that China’s moving toward its goal of making the economy more market oriented,” said Zeng Xianzhao, analyst at Everbright Securities.

Reuters

Japanese stocks
NIK, +0.30%
took their direction from the yen, ultimately closing down 0.4% as the dollar lost ground against the Japanese currency near the close of trading.

“Foreign investor participation is starting to dry up ahead of the Thursday U.S. holiday, taking steam out of the market,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, strategist at Okasan Securities.

In recent weeks, the greenback has enjoyed a strong winning streak against its Japanese counterpart, going as high as ¥101.92 Monday — a six-month high. The U.S. dollar was at ¥101.66 in late Asian trade.

More broadly across the region, stocks were little changed, as Asia was given little guidance from the U.S., where Wall Street ended steady Tuesday. There was also quiet trading ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

U.S. directly challenges China's air-defense zone

(3:14)

A pair of American B-52 bombers flies over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea without informing Beijing in a direct challenge to China and its establishment of an expanded air defense zone. Photo: Getty Images.

The Australian dollar
AUDUSD, +0.0000%
extended its fall against the U.S. dollar Wednesday, dropping to 91.09 U.S. cents. The currency has been under pressure since last week when Reserve Bank of Australia Gov. Glenn Stevens said he was “open-minded” on the question of intervention, which created speculation that action to drive the currency lower was imminent.

In Japan, a number of companies were reacting to corporate news. Panasonic Corp.
6752, +0.66%PCRFF, +1.39%
rose 3.5% after a Nikkei report said that the company plans to sell three semiconductor plants in Japan to Israeli chip maker TowerJazz.

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